


To Know

by honey_in_the_lion



Series: Inversion AU [3]
Category: Hannibal Lecter Series - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, Inversion AU, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-04
Updated: 2017-09-04
Packaged: 2018-12-24 00:00:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12000660
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honey_in_the_lion/pseuds/honey_in_the_lion
Summary: Inversion AU.Will sleeps with nightmares coiled under his pillow, but not tonight.





	To Know

Sometimes, Will dreams.

They are not nightmares in any sense, nor are they the horrors that affect him even in the light of day.  No, these are strange and fearless dreams, offering a respite he has not felt consistently in months.

He sees people in his own way, Will. He sees them, sometimes, as an amalgamation of the traits he is quietly exposed to.  Other times, they take the form of their victim. Or his.

Will, in recent days, is always wracked with guilt. Guilt that he seizes by the tail and reigns in, turning it to his work.

He will not let something like that happen again. No. Will refuses to allow the appearance of another Clarice Starling. Whether this notion is for himself or for the sake of others, he does not ponder.

Yet, she haunts him, or does she guard him?  Will cannot answer, nor does he want to. In his dreams, she often times takes the form of a silver woman with feathered wings.  In others, Clarice is a burning lioness, her fierce facade padding on soft paws, both fearsome and reassuring.

When she appears, all is quiet, and Will can stop fearing for a moment.

There is another form of her that Will cannot see. He tries, yet it is the first time his skill has failed him. It is the third aspect of her that Will is, to some degree, aware of, yet does not wish to face in full.  It is the only time he feels fear towards Clarice, something he desperately does not want.

Will does not recognize this Clarice.

It has been months now since she was locked away, Clarice. His Clarice, Will wants to say. The words taste bittersweet on his tongue. Was she his Clarice or was his Clarice someone that never existed?

Will does not know. Will is afraid to know.

But for now he takes comfort in her shadow, hoping time will heal the dull ache in his chest.

For now, Will shall sleep sweetly, protected from the dreams that coil under his pillow.

Later, a dark one with great twisted antlers will accompany the silver figure.  A stag will walk with the lioness; their great forms loping smoothly in the great plains.  

And Will, for once, may be able to catch a glimpse of what he could not see before. 

**Author's Note:**

> Im still trying to capture characterizations :'3c


End file.
